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Get your marketing ready for Black Friday and Cyber Monday

Last year, people spent $3.39 billion on Cyber Monday, which made it the largest online sales day ever, according to Adobe data. This year, some studies show Black Friday will be a bigger shopping day, while others forecast Cyber Monday will take the cake.

Regardless, a lot of shopping will happen between Thanksgiving (Nov. 23) and Cyber Monday (Nov. 27). Americans are forecast to spend, on average, $743 shopping that weekend, according to 2017 RetailMeNot data. Lucky for you, that's an increase of 47 percent from 2016.

The countdown is on! With the biggest shopping holiday of the year right around the corner, make sure you've made your company's marketing plan and checked it twice.

7 ways to market better this Black Friday and Cyber Monday

1. Work it all weekend. 70 percent of Americans will shop sometime between Black Friday and Cyber Monday. Plus, four of the 10 biggest shopping days this retail season are during this weekend, which are Black Friday, Cyber Monday and the Saturday and Sunday in between, found 2017 RetailMeNot data.

2. Compete. On average, products are going to be 28 percent below their listed price during the Thanksgiving weekend, and 86 percent of all orders will have free shipping, found 2017 SalesForce data. To get your customers' attention, you need to (at the least) match this deep discount rate and offer free shipping.

4. Craft masterful emails. 66 percent of marketers report that email marketing was their most effective marketing channel during last year's holiday season, followed by search engine optimization (20 percent) and print (12 percent), found a 2016 Marketing Dive survey. Dust off your planned emails and review them with a fresh set of eyes to make them perfect!

5. Send your emails at the right time. By 10 a.m., email revenues have peaked. Deliver your marketing emails after 5 a.m., but before noon to maximize sales, according to 2017 Q2 Adobe data.

6. Don't put all your eggs in one basket. 81 percent of shoppers will use up to six channels to find the best holiday deals. Most frequently, they're Googling, looking for coupons on savings apps, browsing on their mobile phone, window shopping on apps, listening to their friends' recommendations and reading newspapers, found 2017 RetailMeNot data. The sales process is no longer linear, and you need to cover all your bases. Make sure you have a marketing plan for as many channels as you can handle!

7. Lessen the stress in stores. 87 percent of people plan to shop in stores for holiday gifts, according to Natural Insight. But two main stressors deter them: crowds (58 percent) and not being able to find products (52 percent). Brainstorm tactics to combat these problems before the biggest shopping event of the holidays — especially since most people plan to shop in store in early December, according to 2017 Natural Insight data. You need to deliver a better experience now, so they'll want to come back again in a few weeks.

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About the Author

Emma Fitzpatrick is a freelance writer and marketer, whose specialties include content marketing, social marketing and short, snappy writing. Pick her brain more at emma.l.fitzpatrick@gmail.com.